


take these broken wings (and learn to fly)

by Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell



Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson, The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angel (Maximum Ride) is Claire Hargreeves, Five knows the Flock from the future, Gen, No Incest, The Hargreeves & The Flock team up to stop the apocalypse, apocalypse media crossover, but its good, get out of here with that shit, please bear with me i know its weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 20:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19731661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell/pseuds/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell
Summary: Allison Hargreeves swears she'll be a better parent than the one she had.Unfortunately, she doesn't get the chance to.





	1. Chapter 1

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October, 1989, forty three women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of them had been pregnant when the day first began. Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as he could find. 

He got seven of them. 

One of those seven was a girl with the ability to shape reality with just a handful of words. She was the third adopted out of the seven. She was the Rumor. She was Allison Hargreeves. 

And, as a young girl, she decided she was going to be twice the parent that Reginald ever was. She ran her hand over the row of stitches on her upper arm and thought about how Diego had cried after hurting her, about how disdainful Reginald had looked at the both of them, and made herself a promise. 

Her child would never have to be raised as some sort of experiment. Her child wouldn’t have to grow up afraid every day of how they would fail or what would be expected of them. Her child wouldn’t live their whole life trapped in one house, given time out only for missions or a half hour of fun a week. 

Allison Hargreeves would be an excellent mother. She would get out of this house and she’d have a fairytale live, like the stories that Mom had read her back when she was younger and they had been allowed more time for recreation. 

And at first, that looked like it would be the truth. Allison Hargreeves managed to scrape together enough money for a ticket to Hollywood, hoping to leave behind the memories of her broken home, to forget that house. 

Five had been gone for six years. Ben had been dead for two. Klaus had run away a little over a month later, and no one heard from him other than Diego, who had had to pick him up from the emergency room for accidental overdoses  _ twice.  _

Her family was broken, and Allison didn’t know how to fix it, so she ran away instead. She focused on her life, on building it to be what she had always dreamed of. She  _ built  _ that life  _ herself ( _ **_nevermind that it was built on lies, with rumors as the foundation.)_ **

Within three years she went from Allison Hargreeves, the Rumor, to Allison Hargreeves, actress and wife of Patrick Hargreeves, who had taken her name. 

A year and a half later, that list was set to change. She would be actress, wife, and  _ mother,  _ to a daughter. And Allison couldn’t be more excited. She pinned ultrasound photos on the fridge. She held skype calls with Luther, who was in the mansion still, the only one of her siblings who hadn’t yet seen sense. 

She exchanged occasional texts with Vanya, who was surprised and grateful to be suddenly included in Allison’s life. And she had regular doctor appointments with the best OBGYN that California had to offer. 

One night, she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Claire Grace Hargreeves, after both her and Patrick’s mothers. This was it. This was everything she had dreamed of. 

And then, barely a week later, it turned into a nightmare. 

Claire was kidnapped, stolen from her crib in the middle of the night. Allison had set her down long enough to shower. Patrick was in the room with the baby monitor. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. 

Allison didn’t panic. Not at first. Instead, she reached out to her mother, who reached out to Pogo, who sent the other living members of the Umbrella Academy out to L.A. Allison breathed easy, and kept her head cool as best as she could. They would find Claire. They  _ would.  _

But, as the days turned to weeks turned to months, she began to lose hope. Klaus and Diego gave up the search, Diego going back home to try and rejoin the Police Academy (he had left as soon as he found out about his neice; he may have disliked his siblings, but family was family). 

Luther kept hope for a while longer, almost longer than Allison had. 

But they couldn’t find her, and on what would have been Claire’s second birthday, they had a small funeral for her. 

One month later, Patrick filed for divorce. 

* * *

Claire Hargreeves did not get the life that her mother had wanted for her. She was one month old when her wings came in. She was two months old when she was introduced to the other experiments like her. She was a year old when the scientists no longer kept her in a monitored room, instead putting her in a dog kennel like what the others were each kept in. She was also one when she met her half-brother, who was three at the time. He was named the Gasman, but she called him Gazzy, because she couldn’t say it, so that was what the other kids began to call him too. The scientists called her Subject Eleven. 

Subject One, a nine year old who had named herself Maximum, called her Angel because of her fluffy white wings. 

This was the family she knew- each of them called by numbers. Each of them ranked by abilities. Each of them experimented on and punished for failures, any success ignored. A rotating cast of whitecoats as their caretakers.

If Allison had known how close her daughter’s life would be to hers, she would have torn that building down with her bare hands. 

Angel was two years old when she and her siblings were rescued, two years old when she was brought to an actual home. And they were a family for real now, just like the scientists had at their homes (Angel had been able to hear some of their thoughts. She had taken to asking some of them how their babies were doing. It led to more experiments.)

Jeb was their dad, and the kids were Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy. Angel was the baby of the family. 

Angel was four when Jeb “died”. She was also four when she heard Max think of Angel as “my baby” for the first time, even though Max was only twelve. Angel wanted a mom like the people on TV, so she just sort of went along with it. None of them had real moms anyways, and besides, it felt nice when Max brushed at her curly hair and pulled it up in a ponytail. (She liked her curls; liked them even more when Nudge, who had the same kind of curly hair and a similar hair texture, tried out hairstyles on Angel she found in old fashion magazines.)

Angel was six years old when she was kidnapped back by the school. Six years old when the visions started- of a boy falling from a blue hole in the sky, of a woman lashing out at another woman with a violin bow and blood  _ everywhere _ (and Jeb, who had betrayed them, found out about her visions and smiled, and Angel tried to read his mind but there was only gray static there). She was six years old when she developed the ability to influence people- she had made the discovery when she had thought  _ I wish you’d leave me alone,  _ and one of the scientists had stopped the experiment and left the room. More experiments came after. 

She was rescued shortly after that, and she knew what she needed to do. 

Max had visions shoved in her head, infodumps of every vision Angel had had of what was to come, and she screamed and fell out of the sky. Angel pulled out of her head quickly, and the visions ended. And then, after the migraine had passed, Max had shaken out her wings and cleared her throat. 

“Pack up camp. We’re going to New York City.” 

Angel smiled. 

When they landed in the City, late at night, they made quick work of hiding their wings and went to look for food. Holding on to Max’s hand, Angel caught a glimpse of a TV and the news.

**Billionaire Reginald Hargreeves found dead.**

(Three thousand miles away, Allison Hargreeves was rushed off of the red carpet.)


	2. Chapter 2

On the night of March 24, 2019, it was almost as if there was a puzzle clicking together. Angel could see it, could see all the little pieces clicking into place, and if she could, she was sure that the new factor her visions had shown her (a group called the  _ Commission?  _ Seriously? She was sure Max would have something snarky to say, but she couldn’t think much beyond her headache and how dumb the name even sounded.)

But she closed her eyes and pushed through the headache as she held on to Max’s hand, trying to make sense of the images flying through her head at a zillion miles an hour, trying to figure out what was useless and what wasn’t, what the next move could possibly be-

_ (she saw rocks falling from the sky and bodies in a pile so still too still, a family like hers trying to do the right thing trying to stop it- she saw a boy shaking bodies desperately and  _ **_oh no they were his brothers and sisters and they were dead and it was his fault because he had gone, gone, gone-_ ** _ and she saw herself, landing in front of the boy, surrounded by her family plus another boy she didn’t recognize. The snippets started coming faster and faster- she saw the boy moving with them through the wreckage that was the end of the world, saw the older kids work on breaking his walls down, saw him call her  _ **_Claire,_ ** _ saw him fight with them and live with them and grow old with them and  _ **_leave without them._ ** _ ) _

Angel’s eyes flew open again and she bit back the gasp that tried to slip out as her headache doubled. No need to let the others in on what she felt just yet. 

All of the snippets boiled down to a few simple pieces of information, for which purpose Angel pushed into Max’s thoughts again, using the Voice.

_ Max. The man that died, Reginald Hargreeves. There’s a boy there at his mansion, named Five Hargreeves. You need him on your team. _

**_What kind of guy names their kid Five? And why do we need this kid? What good can a normal kid do?_ **

_ Golly,  _ Angel was sick of lying. And, with the things that Jeb had told her, what she had seen in store for the future- if they even made it through the next  _ week  _ alive- it meant she’d be lying for a while longer. And the thought of that alone… Angel felt like crying. But she couldn’t do that now. The world had  _ huge  _ plans for her. 

She had to be a big girl now. Not someone who went running to their mommy or their sisters or brothers- someone who showed  _ them  _ what to do. 

So she did what she did best- showed Max all the images that flooded into her head. And when Max fell onto the sidewalk and started keening in pain, Angel did her best to look surprised.

* * *

(In another universe, Five would have had to spend forty-five years alone. He would have spent that entire time alone, trying to survive, with only a mannequin for company and his own thoughts. He would have been fifty-eight when he went back in time. 

But when seven bird kids calling themselves a  _ Flock  _ drop in at the end of the world and help you bury your siblings, things are going to turn out a little different. )

* * *

It was all unfolding, just the way Angel had seen in her visions. She watched as the blue portal appeared, leaning forwards. Gazzy grabbed her arm, and it was only then she realized she was about to fall out of the old oak tree. 

A shiver ran down her spine, making the feathers on her wings twitch lightly. It was one thing to see things in her brain. It was another thing entirely to see the future unfolding in front of her eyes, just the way she had seen it do so. 

One by one, the siblings came running out of the building. And as they neared, Angel could sense their thoughts, as well as underlying ones. They overlapped, the chatter filling her mind as she tried to block it out. 

_ Temporal anomaly or black hole?- Can’t believe Luther thinks I can’t protect the others just as much as he can- what IS that?- its almost the same shade of blue as- that can’t be right-  _ and then a new, foreign stream of thoughts, yet somehow as familiar to Angel as any of the Flock’s were.

**_This is my chance!_ **

The ripples of blue, of energy and  _ power,  _ grew wider, a bit more distorted. And then- and then the boy fell through. 

There was a consecutive uproar of thoughts from both the rest of the flock and the strangers down below, that gave off the feeling of the same two words:  _ holy shit! _

_ Oh my god! Please don’t tell me he’s dead, i can’t handle seeing another dead sibling, I can't do it- _

“Does anyone else see Little Number Five, or is that just me?” One of the boys blurted out. 

The boy got to his feet, looking himself up and down and then-

And then Nudge slipped, her feet skittering over the branch, and everyone froze. Angel moved to steady her, when she  _ heard  _ something that caused her to throw herself out of the tree, her wings catching the air and lifting her up into the rain. 

The Boy looked up, where the rest of the flock was coming out of the trees, and Angel saw his gaze lock in on her. A small smile crossed his face, and Angel returned it. 

“Hello, Five.” She said cheerfully, waving at him, because something in her visions told her that  _ he was a friend.  _

“Last time I saw you, you were a lot taller.” He said dryly, and Angel laughed. 

  
“Sweetheart,” Max said softly, “What the  _ fuck  _ is going on?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm butchering both TUA and Max Ride's canon with a big smile on my face
> 
> so, i don't know if you've figured this out yet but i've decided angel is gonna go tiny eerie prophetess a lot sooner than she does in canon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and i'm back after five months!! sorry for the hiatus guys my life is INSANE but i swear i mean to continue this fic. anyways enjoy!!!

It was hard. Now that the visions were coming in such rapid order, now that Angel knew the future, it was like she had already lived it, and she was almost  _ sad  _ it was her job to prevent it. 

Sure, almost the whole world died. But her family hadn’t. Her family had only gotten bigger.

She looked at Five critically, wondering if he wouldn’t want to be close to them, but then she got wind of his thoughts- not really  _ thoughts,  _ this time, but more… impressions.

He was  _ happy.  _ Happy to see them. He had missed them as much as she missed him- which was a  _ lot,  _ even though she had just met him.

“Max swore!” Gazzy said, his voice ringing with scandalized delight. Angel let herself plummet to the ground, ignoring the little gasp that one of the women gave, and walked right up to Five, jabbing him in the stomach with an accusatory look. She meant for it to be threatening, but she could hear from everyone else’s thoughts that she just looked like a petulant child. 

Fine. Maybe she  _ was  _ a little petulant.

“You left us.” She said quietly. “Me n’ Nudge n’ Max and- and everyone!”

Five had the decency to look a little ashamed. 

“I  _ missed  _ you, you big jerk!” She continued, stamping her foot. And then, unable to keep herself from it, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. 

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Five hugged her back, and Angel sighed happily. Five gave (would give) some of the best hugs. 

The biggest of the men cleared his throat. 

“I- Do you mind coming inside and explaining what… all  _ this  _ is about?”

Max touched down, coming to stand behind Angel protectively. 

“I would if I could.” She said evenly. “But it looks like it’s up to Angel to decide.”

Angel bounced on her toes excitedly, looking up at Five. 

“Could you get your mommy to make us cookies?”

In response, he smiled. 

* * *

  
  


Max watched as Angel kicked her feet lightly, sitting in a chair too big for her while talking excitedly to Grace. 

“So I know you’re a robot ‘cause I can’t hear your thoughts, but how does that  _ work?  _ Cause you still think n’ stuff, right? Well, duh, you have to, otherwise you wouldn’t consider the Umbrella Academy your kids and you wouldn’t be happy to see them… Huh. Maybe its a technology thing.”

Grace took the little girl’s questioning in stride, a smile on her face that seemed oddly  _ real  _ to Max. 

“It’s most definitely a technology thing, sweetheart.” She said. “I was programmed to protect and raise them when they were four, but I love each and every one of them as much as I’m sure you love your family.”

Angel nodded, smiling, and Grace offered her a spoonful of cookie dough.

Satisfied that her baby was- for the moment- not in danger, Max turned to face the superheroes whose home they had just shamelessly invaded. They were observing the kids and Five alike with baffled wonder.

All of them except for the biggest one, who had zeroed in on Angel with alarm and an intensity that Max instantly bristled at. 

“Did she just say she can’t  _ hear  _ our Mom’s thoughts?” 

Max moves to the defensive, standing in front of Angel as if the mere question is a threat. Angel fumbles her little hand behind her, reaching out and grabbing Max’s.

“It’s okay.” She says in a low whisper only they- and maybe the robot- could hear. “They have powers too. He’s just curious.”

At the new revelation, Max tilts her head slightly. 

“Yeah.” She says to the giant, tone clipped but polite. “Angel reads minds. Her brother Gazzy over there can mimic anything. What can  _ you  _ do?”

The man looks a little taken aback, blinks.

“Haven’t you ever heard of us?”

“Not before the little voice in my head told me we’d need a kid named  _ Five  _ on our side this morning.” Max snarks back. “Who the hell names a kid after a  _ number?” _

“The School called me Subject Eleven, Max.” Angel says in a tiny, hurt tone of voice. “They called all of us numbers.”

Max deflates instantly. Children and their lack of filters. 

(Nevermind the fact that she’s just fourteen and doesn’t have much of a filter of her own.)

“Sweetie, the School sucked. The Whitecoats are a bunch of crazy scientists.” She says. 

Angel nods, the hurt fading out of her face as she tilts her head, listening to something only she can hear, then she shrugs it off, making a playful face at Gazzy across the room, who is lounging over the top of a giant deer head. 

The giant, who’s been watching this most recent conversation with a bewildered look, shakes his head to clear it. 

“We’re the Umbrella Academy. I’m Luther, and I have super strength.”

_ I could have guessed that,  _ Max thinks wryly, and ignores Angel’s little poke to her back about the rude thought. 

“Diego there can curve anything he throws, Allison can Rumor people into doing what she wants-”

Angel’s head snaps up with interest, zeroing in on the woman in question. The entire Flock tenses.

“I don’t do that anymore.” Allison said flatly. “Not since my… divorce.”

Max glances back at Angel, and Angel gives a tiny nod. Yes, she’s being honest. As Max relaxes slightly so does the rest of the Flock. 

As if unnerved by the synchronization the flock has, Luther continues cautiously. 

“Klaus, when he’s not high, can see ghosts. Five-”

“Time travel!” Angel chimes in excitedly. “We saw him come back!”

“Teleportation is my primary one, kid.” Five says dryly, blipping across the room and grabbing bread as if to emphasize that.

“About that…” the Giant ( _ Luther)  _ says, spinning on his heel. “Where  _ were  _ you?”

“The future.” Five says. “It’s shit, by the way.”

Angel makes a small noise, like he just insulted her, and Five deflates, correcting himself. 

“Mostly shit.”

This is good enough for Angel, who tries to sneak a ball of cookie dough off the sheets Grace is loading them on to.

“It couldn’t have been  _ all  _ shit with us there,” She said, and there are immediately several different gasps. 

“ _ Angel!”  _ Max says in her best approximation of  _ disappointed mom.  _ She thinks it works, because Angel looks appropriately chastised. And then Five ruins it. 

“Watch your fucking language, kid.” He says, and she dissolves into absolute  _ hysterics.  _ But it’s the first time since she was rescued that Angel has laughed, so you know what? Max isn’t going to complain. 

“Wait.” Says the shortest of the adults, a woman with brown hair and somewhat glazed over eyes. “Angel, right? How did you know you were with him?”

Angel stops, her mouth full of cookie dough crumbs. She looks like a deer in the headlights, and Max wonders why her baby looks so thrown off. 

“Vanya,” Five says impatiently, “we have more to worry about than what Cl- what Angel read in my memories.” 

“Like  _ what?”  _ The man in leather- Diego- says, the words exploding out of him as if he’s not sure what to do with all the emotions he’s currently feeling. 

Angel swallows the cookie dough at the same time Five opens his mouth, dismissal clear on his face.

“The end of the world,” She says, her voice sweet as ever. “And the death of almost all life.”


End file.
